While it is indeed true that all lives matter, this expression as a response to Black Lives Matter detracts from both the movement itself and it's meaning. The trouble with saying 'All Lives Matter' is that this fails to address the very issue that the Black Lives Matter movement is seeking to address.

In the words of Macklemore: "Black Lives Matter, to use an analogy, is like if... if there was a subdivision and a house was on fire. The fire department wouldn't show up and start putting water on all the houses because all houses matter. They would show up and they would turn their water on the house that was burning because that's the house that needs the help the most."

When it comes to institutionalized race-barriers and racism itself, the vast majority of over-privileged white-Americans like myself have no absolutely no idea what it means to experience this in general, not to mention on a daily basis. Whether on social-media or on the television it seems that a growing and outspokenly angry (and predominantly white) community has been spouting off about how the Black Lives Matter movement is an overreaction. This argument is usually accompanied by saying "all of this political correctness needs to be rid of." If you think the Black Lives Matter movement is simply about political-correctness you're probably probably the type of person who can't really speak about this kind of issue without getting red in the face and yelling progressively louder and louder. This right here, this is where we begin to see the issue for what it is, we as a nation and as a people have a historical reluctance towards admitting when we are wrong.

Let's take racial profiling as an example, this previous summer I may or may not have become increasingly addicted to the recent Pokemon Go app. While playing the game people have reportedly been mugged, arrested for trespassing or any number of other possibilities but this is neither the point I'm seeking to make nor was it enough to prevent me from wandering late at night. Often times while playing I found myself walking around both late at night and in some relatively sketchy neighborhoods at times. Once and only once was I stopped by the Police and that was after I had been poking around behind a store at four-AM in search of a Squirtle that I never even caught. The officer was surprisingly understanding about the situation and even shared a chuckle when I begrudgingly admitted that I was out playing Pokemon so late at night; and that was it.

Now the following is obviously speculation, but let's now imagine that same scenario if I weren't a mildly dorky looking white male wearing a track-jacket; let's change my skin pigmentation to be a great deal darker and also put me in a hoodie instead of a track-jacket. Even with just one headphone-bud in it can still be difficult to hear certain things depending on the scenario, so perhaps I don't notice that the car slowly pulling up to me at 4AM is a Police cruiser and I dare to pull out my cell-phone to pause my music. Ideally this scenario should very well play out much like what actually happened, however what should happen and what does happen are not always one in the same. Perhaps regardless of race the officer's reaction to me-suddenly pulling my cellphone from my pocket might be the same, but in today's climate one could argue that this is not anywhere near the grim reality. What resulted in a five minute conversation for me, could very easily have become much worse for a person of color.

While unknowingly bigoted and hateful individuals become increasingly more and more unnerved by the Black Lives Movement, men, women and children are being not only mistreated but also targeted. Don't believe it? There's a website called policeone.com which is an aggregate website for article posting that is organized similar to cracked.com or reddit.com, with one major difference... in order to comment you have to be a verified police officer. While the website is not exclusive to the United States many of the comments sections would appall citizens American or not. Not all cops are bad cops, but just as there are many good cops whose allegiance is foremost to law enforcement, there are also those who are very talented at being bad cops while appearing to be good.

It is not just a matter of White and Black, it is not just a matter of the privileged against the under-priviliged, it is a matter of Mankind against Himself.